Internal combustion engine



July 18, 1933. o. H. ERIKSEN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 1, 1930' 3. bu n u\\ 1 ll ll INVENTOR. cums-e H. Elem 557v July 18, 1933. Q ER|KSEN 1,918,840

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed April 1, 1930 Z Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

BYQ

ORNEYS.

01/1/61? MEIE/KSEN Patented July 1a, 1933 UNITED STATES,

PATENT OFFICE OLIVER H. ERIKSE'N, OF ORLAND, CALIFORNIA INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Application med April 1', 1930. Serial No. 440,726;

with which the connecting rod of the piston is in operative, sliding engagement, whereby m the use of a crank shaft, and its attendant disadvantages are entirely eliminated.

Another ob ect. of the inventlon is to provide a'n efficient engine in whlch the power generated in a plurality of cylinders is effectively transmitted from the pistons working in said cylinders to a rotary drum-like member, by means of a substantially sinuous cam groove around the periphery of said member, and by means-of an operat1veen= 29 gagement of the connecting rods of said pistons with said groove to convert the reciprocating movement of the connecting rods into a rotary movement of said member.

Another object of the invention is to provide two sets of parallel cylinders on the op-. posite end of a casing, which latter 1s dis-.

posed intermediate said sets, the opposed cylinders being a'xially aligned in pairs, and

s each pair of pistons working in said aligned cylinders being connected to each other by a rigid. continuous connecting rod extending thru the casing; means being provided to convert the reciprocating movement of said connecting rods into rotary motion of a driven element in the casing.

Other'objects and advantages are to provide an engine that will be superior in point of simplicity, inexpensiveness of construction, positiveness of operation, and facility and convenience in use and general efliciency.

in this specification and the annexed drawings, the invention isillustrated in the form considered to be the best, but it is to be underwhatsoever form it may be embodied,

stood that the invention is not limited to such.

, ber 16, The inner faces of the rods 13 are The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein p Fig. 1 is a side view of the engine constructed in accordance with my invention, the engine being shown partly in section.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view of the engine, the section being taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a development view of the sinuous cam groove on the rotary drum of the engine.

Fig. 4 is a detail view of a pair of pistons conlnected by thecontinuous connecting rod, an

Fig. 5 isa sectional view through the cam 05 shaft of the engine showing the cam and the valve stems operated thereby.

In carrying out my invention I make use of two opposed sets of cylinders A and B, and a casing C intermediate the sets A and B. Each set includes a plurality of parallel cylinders 6, the outer ends 7 of which are closed and formed into combustion chambers. The inner open ends of the individual cylinders 6 are mounted over corresponding apertures 7 .8 in the respective end plates 9 of the casing C. The cylinders are arranged in a circularly spaced relation around the axis of rotation of a drum 11 rotatably mounted within the casing C. The cylinders 6 of the opposed sets A and B are axially aligned so that in effect there are a plurality of pairs of axially aligned cylinders betweenthe open ends of which is disposed the casing C.

In each cylinder works a piston 12 of the usual construction. The pistons 12 of each pair of cylinders 6 are connected to eachother by a rigid connecting rod 13, which is slidably guided in the channel 14 of a guide mem-' ber 16 secured on the inner periphery of the casing C.

As it is clearly shown in Figure 2, in the present illustration, I use four pairs of cylinders arranged around the axis of rotation of the drum 11.

The connecting rods 13 are ofiset toward the outside of the respective pistons 12 so as to allow the guiding engagement of the outer portions of the rods 13 with the guide memsubstantially the same width as the groove so that they may exert a pressure on the side walls of the sinuousgroove 17 without undue play. It is to be noted that each connecting rod 13 is constructed of three sections, the two longer end sections and an intermediate short section 21, which latter has the roller 18 mounted thereon.v a

From the center 'of the drum 1 1 extends a shaft 22 in one direction and a cam shaft 23 in the opposite direction. These shaftsmay beformed as a single shaft extended thru' the axisof rotation of the drum and fixedly secured into the drum 11. Therefore "the cylinders 6 are in a circular arrangement around the driven shaft of the engine, thru which the power is. transmitted from the engine.

In the combustion head 7 of each cylinder 6 are the usual intake valves and exhaust valves of the tappet valve ty e, which are actuated in the usual manner y valve cams, 24 on the cam shaft 23. On the cylinder heads of each cylinder set A and B is mounted an annular casing 26 inclosing an annular intake manifold 27 and an annular exhaust manifold 28. The intake manifold is connected to the intake valve chamber of the cylinders of the respective sets, and the exhaust manifoldis suitably connected to the exhaust valve openings of the respective cylinders. A carburetor 29 or other suitable atomizer is connected to the intake manifold to supply the fuel for the engine. The last mentioned manifold structure is identical on the outer ends of both sets of cylinders.

At the end of the shaft 23 is a time gearing 31 to suitably operate the ma eto i tion system 32, which is connecte in t e customary manner to the spark plugs 33 of the cylinders 6.

In operation the valves and the ignition system of the engine are so timed as to effect an efficient suitable firing order. During the power stroke of each piston 12 the respective roller 21 is pressed a inst a wall of the sinuous cam groove 17 t ereby causing the rotation of the drum 11, which latter is journaled in the endplates 9 of the casing C by its shaft extensions 22 and 23. The riding of the rollers 18 in the groove 17 reciprocate the pistons during the i 1e strokes thereof. The firing order of the engine is such that the successive power strokes exert pressure beyond the peaks of the sinuous groove 17 as indicated by the arrows 34: in Fig. 3.

Thus the reciprocation of the connecting rods 13 is convertedinto rotary motion of the drum 11. The shaft 22 is suitably connected to a driven mechanism to transmit the rotation of the drum 11' thereto. The drum itself has suflicient inertia to operate as the fly wheel of the engine, and the sdccessive exertion of force on the properly curved walls of the groove continuously rotates the drum insuch manner that the rollers 18 are passed over dead center on the peaks of the groove without any tendency to exert reversed rotation of the drum.

Having thus described this inventiomwhat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: a a

1. The combination with an engine of the character described including a casing, 1a

drum rotatably mounted therein having a sinuous groove around the periphery thereof a plurality of opposed cylinders extendin 'frem the casing, being axially aligned pairs, the farther ends of the cylinders being closed; a piston working in each cylinder, a connecting rod connecting the pistons in each pair of opposed cylinders, said rod extending alongside the drum, a cam traveler on each connecting rod extending into said sinuous groove to convert the reciprocating motion of the connecting rod into rotary motion of the.drum, and a driven element operatively connected to the drum, said cylinders being parallel with the axis of rotation of the drum,

andbeing on the circumference of a circle concentric with the drum, of intake valves v and exhaust valves in the outer ends of said cylinders, said valves being extended radially to the respective cylinders, and cams on the shaft to actuate said radial valves.

2. The combination with an engine of the character described, including a casing, a drum rotatably mounted therein having a sinuous groove around the periphery there-. of, a plurality of opposed cylinders extending from the casing, being axially aligned in pairs, the farther ends of the cylinders being closed; ,a piston working in each cylinder, a connecting rod connecting the pistons of each pair of oppos'edcylinders, extending alongside the drum, a cam traveler on each connecting rod extending into' said sinuous groove to convert the reciprocating motion of the connecting rod into rotary motion of the drum; a driven shaft journaled in the casing extending centrally from the drum. the said cylinders being arranged in two sets, one on each end of the casing around the shaft, of transverse intake valves and exhaust valves in the closed end of each cylinder disposed radially to said cylinders, and valve actuating mechanisms on the shaft adjacent the closed ends of .the respective sets of 3. The combination with an engine having two sets of opposed cylinders arranged in axially aligned pairs on an intermediate casing, rigidly connected pairs of pistons working in said cylinders, and means in said casing, operatively connected to the piston connections to convert the reciprocating move- .ment of the pistons into rotary movement of a shaft; of a circular manifold mounted on the outer ends of each set of cylinders, each OLIVER H. 'ERIKSEN. 

